News from Thailand – November 28, 2013

Four construction workers were injured yesterday when a scaffolding collapsed in Ayutthaya. The three Cambodians and a woman were working on a construction site at the Ayutthaya City Park shopping mall. New shops are to be built next to the main building.

The police are investigating whether the construction company has complied with the safety regulations. According to the director of the mall, the scaffolding collapsed under the weight of the mortar used for the floor of the first floor.

– The governor of southern Songkhla province is the first senior government official to join the anti-government protests. Yesterday he joined a group of demonstrators marching towards his own provincial government building. Once there, he ordered the police to leave. He said that as governor he could take care of the safety of the people himself.

According to the newspaper, 31 provincial houses have been besieged in the country, including 14 in the South, the stronghold of the opposition party Democrats. The demonstrators say they will remain pending further instructions from action leader Suthep Thaugsuban in Bangkok. According to observers, they did not enter the South and state property was not destroyed.

The siege of government buildings in the country was called on Tuesday evening by Suthep Thaugsuban, who is now referred to by the newspaper as leader of the Civil Movement for Democracy. He led the occupation of the Ministry of Finance and set up a second headquarters there.

The occupation in Songkhla is in violation of an order issued by the Interior Minister. It has instructed all provincial governors to prevent occupations. He warned protesters that they risk a prison sentence of up to 7 years if they destroy government property.

In Surat Thani, some protesters were allowed to enter. They handed out flowers and asked the officials working there to go home or join the rally in front of the building. The number of demonstrators was estimated at one thousand.

A similar number of demonstrators are reported from Trang and in Phuket the governor was given flowers and a whistle. 'We camp here in front of the Provinciehuis. We will not destroy government property because the protest is peaceful," said a protest leader.

In Krabi, too, the governor received flowers and a whistle. The governor immediately took advantage of it and said he was working for His Majesty the King.

In many other provinces, security at Provincial Houses has been increased, such as in Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi, Rayong, Phayao, Phitsanulok, Khon Kaen and Udon Thani.

See further the post Government and demonstrators have their backs against the wall.

– The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), which has settled in the Rajamangala stadium, will expand its rally on Saturday to counter the occupation of government buildings by anti-government protesters.

UDD chairman Tida Tawornseth says he has mobilized more supporters to come to the stadium on November 30. She demanded that the protesters stop harassing foreign and domestic media and called on the population to distance themselves from Suthep's actions.

Tida called the protesters "crazy people." "Their attempts to bring about undemocratic change are rejected by the international community."

According to red shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan, there are still groups that try to provoke violence.

– Six schools near Ratchadamnoen Avenue, where opposition party Democrats are holding a large rally, will reopen today. Lesson time is shortened so that students can go home early in the afternoon.

Representatives of the Satriwithaya school are meeting with protest leaders today. They want a lane cleared so parents can drop off and pick up their child. [So Thailand also has a backseat generation.]

– The police have requested an arrest warrant for another seven protest leaders. Four for breaking into the State Department and damaging automatic doors. The others are charged with public disorder and sedition. An arrest warrant has already been issued against action leader Suthep Thaugsuban. His lawyer unsuccessfully asked for that to be withdrawn. The police do not intend to arrest him immediately, as that could lead to clashes.

– As in Samut Songkhram, a hearing on the construction of a waterway in Ratchaburi was prematurely canceled yesterday after fierce protests from residents. Or rather called off, because about 300 villagers prevented the hearing from starting. They oppose the construction of a new XNUMX km long waterway between Kamphaeng Phet and Kanchanaburi and the extension of part of the Mae Klong River in Ratchaburi and Samut Songkhram. The villagers fear for the river ecology and oppose the forced relocation of residents.

– Six defense volunteers and a civilian were injured yesterday in a bomb attack in the district of Muang Yala (Yala). The bomb exploded at a checkpoint.

– With all the political squabbles and demonstrations, we would almost forget: residents in the South are struggling with flooding. Yesterday, an 80-meter embankment along the Trang River collapsed and six tambons were flooded. In some places the water reached a height of 3 meters. The Trang-Thung Song road to Nakhon Si Thammarat has been flooded for four days.

In Surat Thani, the Tapi River overflowed its banks. In two tambons the water rose to 1 meter. Two districts were also flooded.

– The rector of the King Mongkut Institute of Technology Lat Krabang has been fired because he had messed with figures for his son and had introduced a study program to please politicians. With a vote of 9 to 4, the institute council decided to remove him from his position and to start a disciplinary investigation against him.

– A dead 7-year-old elephant was found in a forest along a road in Pa Teng (Phetchaburi). The animal had succumbed to an infected bullet wound. The bullet, found in the animal's stomach, had pierced the spleen and a lung. Pellets of hail were found in the skin.

– The Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation urges the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) to treat the critically ill baby elephant Tangmo return it to the owner in Surin, so that he can put the animal to sleep.

Tangmo was seized by the DNP in June last year and housed in the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, because the origin of the animal was shadowy. However, the case failed in court, but the DNP failed to return the animal.

The owner was shocked when he saw the animal during a visit to the center. It appeared paralyzed, the hind legs are lame due to hernia and the animal has several ulcers. The elephant foundation is now putting pressure on the case. It is international practice to euthanize suffering animals. Over the past 30 years, the foundation has put sixteen seriously ill elephants out of their misery. The DNP has promised to bring back Tangmo soon.

– Today Wan Kadir Jehman, former head of the separatist movement Bersatu, speaks at a forum organized by the Thai Journalists Association. His arrival is seen as an attempt to support peace efforts in the South. Born in Thailand, Jehman emigrated to Malaysia twenty years ago. It is the first time that he has spoken publicly about the southern violence, which flared up again 10 years ago.

Bersatu was founded in 1989 as an umbrella organization for four resistance groups, including BRN, the group with which Thailand conducts peace talks. Internal conflicts later limited the role of the organization. The leaders of the four groups also began to distrust Jehman.

– The ambitious cable car project in Chiang Mai received a mixed reception at a forum on Tuesday. The 10-kilometer cable car will connect the Night Safari with Doi Pui in Doi Suthep-Doi Pui National Park.

The job was proposed by the Pinkanakorn Development Agency, set up in February, which aims to promote tourism in the city and province. According to the PDA, the cable car will be the longest in the world. The construction will cost 2 billion baht.

The Doi Suthep Temple Foundation does not like the job: it harms the environment and northern culture. According to the foundation, the current transport options are sufficient.

Political news

– The mortgage system for rice was the focus yesterday on the second day of the application by the opposition party Democrats censor debate. According to the opposition, it is plagued by irregularities [read: corruption]. The prime minister was criticized for leaving the answer to Trade Minister Niwatthamrong Bunsongpaisan, which is odd given that she chairs the National Rice Policy Committee.

Yingluck said she had never attended the meetings because she had appointed the minister as deputy. The program is useful because it increases farmers' incomes, Yingluck said. She said she has ordered an investigation into the allegations of corruption.

During the squabble, the chairman expelled one opposition MP for refusing to stop his protests against Yingluck.

Photo homepage: Consultations behind the government table.

– The joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives scheduled for today has been canceled. The decision was taken after consultation with opposition leader Abhisit. Abhisit feared that the government wanted to pull off another controversial constitutional amendment: the formation of a citizens' assembly tasked with rewriting the 2007 constitution. The parliamentary consideration of that proposal was halted last year by the Constitutional Court.

Economic news

– The baht fell further in value on Tuesday to 32,01/32,03 against the dollar. That is the lowest price in two months. The drop has been attributed to growing concerns over political tensions now that a special emergency law has been enacted across Bangkok and two neighboring districts.

Similar to the day before, foreign investors continued to sell in the equities and bond markets, heavily impacting the share price. A positive point on Tuesday was that the SET index rose and 50,2 billion baht was traded. Since the end of October, the SET is down 5,83 percent. Then the opposition party Democrats started its protest against the amnesty proposal.

– The Indonesian-Thai Chamber of Commerce was founded on Tuesday. The Chamber has seventy members. In recent years, the volume of trade between the two countries has increased sharply: from $8,5 billion in 2009 to $19 billion. It could rise further to $20-25 billion next year.

– Some figures from the National Economic and Social Development Board: The average monthly income per capita is 3.642 baht and in urban areas (9 million people) 3.248 baht. 44 percent of households have an average debt of 122.486 baht; in Bangkok, the debt averages 232.223 baht per family.

– Another setback for the rice mortgage system. The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives has only managed to find buyers for 37 billion baht of the 75 billion baht bond issue. That amount is needed to pay the farmers who have been waiting for their money since the beginning of October for the surrendered paddy. Investors are reluctant to invest in the system because of the political uncertainty and cost of the program.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post

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